Nov. 27 (UPI) — Gunfire at a Washington mall left one person hospitalized with serious injuries and sent panicked shoppers scrambling for cover on Black Friday.
The shooting happened shortly after 7 p.m. at the mall in Tacoma, located south of Seattle, according to the city’s police department. The mall has been closed and no suspects are currently in custody. Local law enforcement agencies haven’t released details on the condition of the person shot.
Officers working in the mall saw a dispute among a small group near the food court that resulted in gunfire, a police spokesman told KOMO.
Witnesses described to the station the chaotic scene that ensued. Daisey Dockter was finishing a meal with her aunt and uncle when gunshots started.
“We were about to get up and I hear about six shots or something,” she told the station. “We all just start running toward the door. It’s a huge mob of people. Everyone’s kind of pushing.”
Witnesses reported hearing two to 14 gunshots, reports The News Tribune. As the mall immediately went into lockdown, hundreds of shoppers took refuge in stores or sheltered in place.
More than 60 law enforcement officers from multiple agencies responded to the shooting. Tacoma police spokesman officer Gary Wurges told the paper officers went through every single store as they secured the mall.
“With an active shooter in a huge place, we’re sending people inside to do a coordinated search,” Pierce County Sheriff’s Sgt. Darren Moss told the paper.
